Hezbollah and the 'Unknown Knowns'

We know well who killed top Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyah on Feb. 12 in Damascus.

While in the US media, only journalists like Seymour Hersh will have the nerve to point out the obvious, the Israeli media has not shied away from evidence of the Israeli intelligence's involvement in this well-calculated assassination.

A major Israeli daily Maariv shared the views of many others when it concluded: "Officially, Israel yesterday denied responsibility for the killing. But experts say the brilliant execution of the attack was characteristic of the Mossad."

The Financial Times reported on the "triumphant mood" of the Israeli press, which hailed "the demise of one the country's most feared adversaries" and quoted an Israeli paper stating "the account is settled."

The Financial Times also quoted a most telling analysis offered by one Israeli commentator: "Mugniyah's assassination is perhaps the hardest blow Hezbollah has taken to this day. Not just because of his operational abilities, his close ties to the Iranians, and the series of successful terror attacks that he carried out. But because he was a symbol, a legend, a myth."

Donald Rumsfeld is no longer in public eye but his wisdom lives on. "We also know there are known unknowns," he once told perplexed reporters. Precisely, the unknown known is that the Israeli Mossad killed Mugniyah, and killed him for specific political reasons, at a well-chosen time and place that would make perfect sense from the Israeli government's point of view.

Let's first look at the timing.